Georgia wrongful death lawyer

Georgia is unusual: a wrongful-death claim recovers the full value of the life of the person who died, measured from their perspective rather than the family’s financial loss. There is also a second, separate claim brought by the estate for the medical bills, funeral expenses and the pain the person suffered before death.

Reviewed by Omar A. Cooper, Esq. · Last updated September 3, 2026

Who is usually responsible

More than one party is often liable for the death of a family member, and finding the second one is frequently what changes the value of a claim:

• anyone whose negligence caused the death — a driver, a property owner, a manufacturer, a company;
• an employer, where the person responsible was working;
• a government entity, subject to much shorter written-notice deadlines.

The evidence that decides these cases

In rough order of how quickly it disappears:

• the investigating agency’s complete file, not the summary report;
• the medical record from the incident through death;
• evidence of what the person’s life consisted of — work, family, activity, relationships — because that is literally the measure of damages;
• economic analysis of lost earnings and services;
• the estate’s expenses, which belong to the separate estate claim.

Georgia law sets an order for who may bring the claim: the surviving spouse first — and a surviving spouse may not receive less than one third of the recovery, however many children share it — then the children, then the parents, and failing all of those the administrator of the estate (O.C.G.A. § 51-4-2).

"Full value of the life" is the part families find hardest to believe, and it matters enormously. Georgia does not limit the claim to what the person would have earned. It asks what the life was worth to the person who lived it, including everything that was not economic at all.

What can be recovered

• Economic lossMedical treatment already received and reasonably expected in future, lost wages, reduced earning capacity, and property damage.
• Non-economic lossPain, suffering, mental anguish, disfigurement and the loss of the things you used to be able to do.
• Punitive damagesAvailable in the narrower set of Georgia cases involving wilful misconduct or conscious indifference to consequences — drunk driving being the clearest example. They are not part of an ordinary negligence claim.

Every case is different and no outcome can be promised. What we can commit to is that the claim will be documented properly before anyone is asked to put a number on it.

What to do now

If the death of a family member has just happened, the order of these matters more than people expect:

• Get medical attention, and keep going. Your health comes first, and a documented, continuous treatment record is also what makes the injury provable later. Gaps are the argument insurers make most often.
• Report it. A police report, an incident report or an animal-control report creates a contemporaneous record that cannot be reconstructed afterwards.
• Preserve what will disappear. Photograph the scene, the vehicles or the hazard, and your injuries. Video is usually overwritten within days — a written request to preserve it has to go out early. Georgia crash reports are released through BuyCrash a few business days later.
• Do not give the other side a recorded statement before you have spoken to a lawyer and know the extent of your injuries. You are not required to.
• Get a free review. Call (470) 852-6328 and Omar will tell you honestly whether there is a claim.

Sources: O.C.G.A. § 51-4-2 — wrongful death of a spouse or parent · O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33 — injuries to the person: two years · O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33 — apportionment and comparative fault · Georgia crash reports — BuyCrash

Questions people ask about these claims